Stupidly Awesome References

This page documents stupid (and occasionally clever) references to 80s sci-fi movies and television and other nods to pop culture. The entire game itself could be considered a reference towards many of the films and TV series of the 80's and 90's, from Die Hard to Rocky to G.I. Joe. Here are some of our favorites.

The first gameplay segment of FarCry 3 Blood Dragon (The Chopper assault) utilizes the hit song Long Tall Sally as performed by Little Richard. Sound familiar? Well this is in fact the same song playing as the ill fated commando team from Predator takes a trip into the jungle. Take a listen for yourself.

Oddly enough two of the men in the helicopter go on to become state Governors.

This side mission at one of the liberated garrisons has you tracking down four mutated turtles who dwell in the sewer. We're sure there's no way they could be related to the sai-wielding pizza-scarfing teenage ninjas, despite the fact that they're eating pizza and wearing colored masks.

You may think to yourself while blasting the guts out of Omega Force soldiers, "Hey, this pistol is kinda familiar," and there's a reason for that. The design and burst-fire function of Rex's pistol is a direct homage to the classic 1987 movie RoboCop. It even reads in the game's weapon description that it "was built and named in honor of a fallen DPD cop who fell in the line of duty fighting the creeps of the Detroit megaslums and industrial wastelands." The name of the gun itself, the A.J.M. 9 contains the initials of RoboCop himself, Alex J Murphy.

Honestly, Rex Power Colt could easily be considered a direct ripoff of Alex Murphy's Robocop - even his marketing slogan is the same as the cyber-cops.

The 'Galleria 1991' shotgun that Rex uses to blast cyber-jerks away is a copy of the shotgun that Arnold uses in 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' and references where we see it in action in the Galleria mall as well as the year the movie was released, 1991.

Rex's Cyber-Eye Vision

When engaged in scan mode, Rex's Cyber-Eye looks awfully similar to the Terminator's.

Possibly one of the most memorable action heroes of all time, Bruce Willis's John McClane has a special way with words. After tossing a terrorist out a 20-story window to get the attention of a nearby cop, he jovially shouts "Welcome to the party, pal!" This is the first achievement you get after first setting foot on the Island in Blood Dragon.

It's no secret that the voice of Sgt. Rex Power Colt, actor Michael Biehn, faced off with Arnold Schwarzenegger in James Cameron's original Terminator. However, Power Glove - the band behind the game's soundtrack, opted to take that connection one step further. Much of the background music in BloodDragon sounds as if it was taken right off the LP of 1984 Terminator soundtrack. Just listen to these two clips, one from Blood Dragon and the other from the film's score, and tell us it doesn't seem like something of a love letter to the original composer Brad Fiedel.

In the introduction to the mission "What is this S#!t?" Dr Darling references holding a high score in the game "Bishop of Battle." This is a reference to the 1983 movie Nightmares, a vignette-style collection of several stories (similar to the Twilight Zone movie) starring Coach Bombay himself, Emilio Estevez. Apparently before he was forced to coach ragtag teens at hockey, he was a wunderkind at 80's arcade games and tank tops.

Additionally on this level there is a reference to another old sci fi movie from 1984 called C.H.U.D. But Rex refers to it as Canabalastic, humanoid, underground, delinquants, instead of dwellers.

The mission title (above) is a direct reference to a line from the 80's inspired exploitation film "Hobo with a shotgun". Both the mission and the scene in the film play versions of Power gloves "Hunters".

The Creative director has cited the film as his inspiration to make Blood Dragon.

Inside one of the many laboratories on the island, you can find a room with several CyberSharks on surgical tables, and it looks as though they're trying to attach laser rifles to their backs. After all, every creature deserves a warm meal...

On the second to last mission when you acquire the Kill Star Rex Grabs the ultimate weapon in the game and says, "I've got the touch. I've got the power!" Which is a reference to the theme song "The Touch" from the original G1 Trasnformers movie. You know the badass one with Unicron voiced by Orson Welles?

Once you reach Level 30, you will unlock an achievement called "Hail to the King" for becoming the Ultimate Badass. This is a direct reference to the 1981 movie Evil Dead and it's #1 Badass Ash Williams.

Rex: This is stupid, but at least it is better than collecting feathers.

Rex: I better not have to collect any feathers.

Mass Effect 2: Rex: They spent 10 million credits to bring me back to life and this is what I am doing?

Saint's Row: The Third: The name of one of the enemies in the game is "The Running Dead" which is a parody of the Walking Dead and the same name given to the zombie enemies in Saint's Row: The Third.</span

Mortal Kombat: The character "Spider" in Blood dragon has a very similar face-mask to the MK fighter "Sub-zero". Similarly Spiders name is a reference to another iconic MK fighter "Scorpion". Spider/ scorpion are both arachnids.

The Mystic Door near the end of the game shouts "Test your might!". A classic line from the MK games. The level design of the mission is reminiscent of MK's stage design. The mission objective also says "Round 1: Fight!" The words the announcer says just before Kombat begins.

Skyrim:

1980's/1990's Arcades

In the 1980's and 1990's most, if not all, arcade games had a mandatory screen added by the FBI encouraging kids not to use drugs that said, "Winners don't use drugs!"

The song "Friends" by Dragon Sound can be heard in the background. This song is also in Miami Connection which I thought was interesting to bring up when you see the cover art of Miami Connection which can be seen below.

Here is a synopsis of the movie: The synth rock band Dragon Sound, consisting of five University of Central Florida students, embarks on a crime-crushing justice in the streets of Orlando against groups of cocaine smugglers and ninjas.